Seed Dispersal Essay

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Introduction Seed dispersal is utilized by every plant. Seed dispersal helps by lessening the amount of the same plat within the same area. However, there are multiple types and ways a seed can travel. Wind dispersal uses the air and the movement of the air to spread across vast areas. Seeds may have wings or parachutes to increase the amount of time the seed is in the air. Both the helicopter and spinner designs will have the seed spin while falling. A glider type has wings that allow the seed to fly through the air. A parachute has multiple hair-like strings poking out of the top of the seed to slow the fall. A tumbleweed is a dead plant that moves around by being blown by the wind and rolling. As the tumbleweed moves, seeds are …show more content…

The seeds float on the top of the water, using the current and waves of the water to travel vast distances. Each seed need to have a tough, waterproof outside so that the seeds do not break open while in the water. Animals can be used to move seeds around. Hitchhiker seeds grab onto animals’ fur, skin, or scales and will move along with the animal until the seed falls off. Some seeds are food that is buried by animals. Many times the animal forgets about the seed and the seed will grow. Plants that have fruits or vegetables may put seeds inside the food. When an animal eats the fruit or vegetable, the seeds will be inside the animal until the animal excretes. This lab utilizes wind dispersal due to the fact that animals, rivers, and oceans are less accessible than wind. Animals can be less predictable and move seeds to random locations. Water can travel extreme distances, making tracking and measuring seed extremely difficult.

Objective:
The objective of this lab is to determine the best design to move a seed the farthest, while staying aloft for the longest time.

Hypothesis:
Using the glider design, the seed will travel 60 to 90 centimeters and will stay in the air for at more than 4 seconds.

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